My national Geographic

                                  By IMA JEANYUS

A vast experimental range known as Forest Hill Cattle Research Facility (FHCRF) lies just outside of the city Forest Hill, a suburb of Fort Worth, Texas. Covering over 1,500 acres of land, this large property is bedecked with rolling hills, patches of forest, and watering holes. This well kept secret houses the U.S. Government's cattle breeding experiments.

                                    "Down at the Ranch.."

If you ever happen to be on I-35 headed north from Fort Worth, take notice of those long lines of fence. It goes on for what seems like miles and at certain distances there are warning signs. "Warning: Electric fence-1000 volts". On the other side of the fence longhorn graze placidly. Perhaps, as you zip by at 75 miles per hour, a few inquisitive eyes follow your path. You may wonder what the fence is for. The truth is, to keep you out! It also prevents other foreign animals from entering the facility. However, if you or something else should get past the first fence, there is another one further in, with higher voltage. This area is called the buffer zone. It was created in hopes of preventing unwanted entrances by anyone or thing and to secure the privacy of the range.
   This Governmental Research Facility needed utmost secrecy because the scientists had to perfect certain practices and get patents and copyrights before the goings-on within could be made public. Several months ago, the required documents were obtained. It is still a government enterprise, but it is now open for tours, and I took one.
The further you go into the facility, the more signs of cattle you see; first, the lone bull near the fence, then a cow trail, laden with patties, and after about 30 minutes of driving, you come across a river. At the river the paved road ends, and the tour bus slows down considerably. This is rather convenient, because past the river are the clones. It is quite interesting to see a herd of cattle comprising about ten animals that look like identical twins, or, rather, dectuplets.
They are belted cattle, all the clones of a prize-winning heifer.
Before the initial shock sets in the bus moves past the content cattle and you finally see the heart of the operation: Forest Hill Cattle Research Facility.

                                    Cattle
FHCRF boasts the largest herd of cloned cattle on earth, over 40. There are two types of cattle on this ranch, dairy and beef. It is the goal of the scientists working there to improve both forms using genetic engineering techniques. A large portion of the cattle here, over 100 head, are the "base stock" from which genetic material is obtained. The scientists in FHCRF have used new technology which makes it possible to clone the embryos of cattle and other mammals from the cells of embryos in early stages of development or from the inner mass cells present after the blastula stage11.   Recently reports explain that cattle can be cloned from adult mammary glands and embryo fibroblasts11. This technology is now available for use to clone transgenic livestock.
                                    Dairy Cattle
A wide range of technologies to improve productivity in the dairy industry is the result of an increase in international competition for the export and import of primary produce. The major goals for the use of these technologies are larger milk production and improved composition for value-added processing. If cattle could be created that had an increased protein yield with out an increase in volume, the dairy industry would be considerably benefited, because protein is the most valuable component of milk. In order to achieve these goals, an understanding of the molecular genetics of the milk proteins and of mammary gland functions is necessary11. FHCRF has continued to attempt this task.
It has been found that while appropriate nutrition is required to limit seasonal changes in the composition of the milk and maximum milk production, improvement of milk protein content is not likely by control of diet alone11.
                                    Bovine Milk Composition
Cow milk is a complex blend of water (87.3%), lactose (4.8%), fat (3.4%), protein (3.5%), and a multitude of other minor components. About 80% of the protein in milk is made of the casiens: alpha5 casein, alphas2 casein, beta casein, and kappa casein. This is a group of acidic phosphoproteins. The remaining percentage consists of the whey proteins: beta lactoglobulin, alpha lactalbumin, lacto ferrin, and miscellaneous enzymes. The mammary gland produces 95% of the proteins; the rest are derived from the blood. The genomic sequences of the caseins have been found and they have been mapped to chromosome six in cattle. Unlike caseins, whey protein genes are spread throughout the genome11.
                                    Mechanisms of Mammary Gland Function
Many different mechanisms work together to control the production and secretion of milk and mammary gland function. The growth of the mammary gland is stimulated by endocrine factors, which stimulate hormone and growth factors. These factors work with the paracrine influences to express milk protein genes. The effects of endocrine-stimulated milk protein creation and secretion is controlled by autocrine factors, or "feed back" molecules1, which let the mammary gland know if it needs to create more milk. The scientists at FHCRF want to identify which genes contribute to each aspect of protein enrichment, enhance the functioning of these genes, and stimulate the breeding of these new genetically engineered cattle.11
                                    What's the Difference?
One may ask, what's the difference between genetic engineering and selective breeding? The truth is, there is not much of a difference in the goals of each enterprise. They both desire to create better specimens of cattle. The difference between the two fields occurs in how they attempt the same goal. Selective breeding attempts to find animals with superior qualities and breed them with other superior animals to get offspring that may or may not have the desired result. Only after generations of breeding does the desired goal get achieved. Genetic engineering can do a lot more in its attempt to get a better cow. A superior specimen can be cloned to create more cattle that will be more similar to it and more likely to function in the same manner than if the same cow were to be bred to a bull. Genetic engineering can also implant foreign genes into an embryonic cow, or tweak a gene to work with more results, or even remove an unwanted gene from the cow's genome to create a "knock-out" cow. The results of genetic engineering can be seen in the first generation unlike traditional breeding methods, which often take many generations to get a result.
While their differences do seem great, both genetic engineering and selective breeding have the same goal, to create a better cow.
                                    Transgenic Cows
   Since it is now possible to insert foreign genes into an animal and direct the expression to a particular tissue, it is important to identify the genes that control the quality of milk, and the regulation of milk and its proteins. These transgenic animals could, for example, express the new genes in the mammary gland and secrete the product into the milk to improve its nutritional and/or manufacturing quality. Or, for an effect on lactational performance, the gene could be expressed into a tissue that then secretes the protein into the blood11.
Transgenic mice were developed in the early 1980's, followed by transgenic livestock, first pigs, then sheep, and recently, cattle. The cost of producing transgenic cows has always been a considerable deterrent, restricting the use of these animals for the production of pharmaceutical proteins and slowing the genetic engineering of cattle for improved production traits. With the developing technologies for nuclear transfer and animal cloning, and a greater understanding of the regulation of cattle milk-protein gene expression, the efficiency of producing transgenic livestock will improve11.
                                   Beef Cattle
If the beef industry is to improve the quality and consistency of meat while maintaining production efficiency, appropriate breeding system design and utilization of breed differences are important. While the potential to genetically change the lean:fat composition of beef is great, the possible impacts on other traits must be considered. The development of molecular technology has the ability to greatly improve genetic enhancement of meat traits. There are so many factors of beef to consider; lean:fat ration, weight at birth, dressed weight, growth rate, adaptability; that it is a difficult undertaking. It will take many years to locate the various genes that control these aspects. Until then, the best we can do is clone particularly worthy specimens and use a detailed and thorough breeding plan1, combining genetic engineering and the traditional breeding methods.